World champions Germany beat European champions Spain 1-0 in Vigo thanks to a late goal from Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos, breaking the hosts’ run of 34 games without a loss at home.
The Real Madrid midfielder unleashed a long strike in the 89th minute that skipped off the wet grass at Balaidos Stadium and over substitute goalkeeper Kiko Casilla, marring his international debut.
A spate of injuries had left Germany manager Joachim Low with only three starters from the side that thrashed Brazil 7-1 in the World Cup semifinals. That became two when Thomas Muller hurt his back in the 22nd minute.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque also gave international debuts to Alvaro Morata, Manuel “Nolito” Agudo, Ignacio Camacho and Jose Callejon.
England picked up to a 3-1 victory over old rivals Scotland at Celtic Park. The Arsenal connection made the first goal, with Jack Wilshere’s deep cross being headed home by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with a deft flick.
And captain Wayne Rooney headed home England’s second goal in the second minute of the second half.
Scotland, who were outplayed for much of the game, thought they were back in it when Andrew Robertson swept home in the 83rd minute, but England went straight up the other end and it was Rooney who netted again to move within three goals of Bobby Charlton’s all-time scoring record.
Roberto Firmino’s superb late strike ensured Brazil continued their winning start under new coach Dunga with a 2-1 victory over Austria in Vienna.
David Luiz opened the scoring for Brazil in the second half and, although Austria drew level through Aleksandar Dragovic’s penalty soon after, the South American giants claimed the win thanks to Firmino’s 25-yard thunderbolt.
The result means Brazil have now won all six of their matches since Dunga — back for his second stint in charge of the national team — replaced Luiz Felipe Scolari in the hotseat following the summer’s World Cup disappointment.
Brazil had not even conceded a goal in Dunga’s opening five matches and, although that record came to an end on Tuesday night, their winning run did not.
Argentina and Portugal played out a poor international friendly at Old Trafford, with Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo playing only the first half.
The only goal of the game came in the first minute of injury time when Raphael Guerreiro was left unmarked to head home Ricardo Quaresma’s cross and give Portugal a 1-0 win.
Stefano Okaka scored on his debut to help Italy beat Albania 1-0 in Genoa.
Okaka headed home a corner seven minutes from time after Italy had missed a string of opportunities. Sokol Cikalleshi had sent an effort crashing off the post in the first half for Albania.
Three Albanian supporters ran onto the pitch, in separate incidents, with one bowing down in front of Lorik Cana and getting the Albania captain to autograph his flag.
Raphael Varane fired France to a 1-0 win over Sweden, the captain heading home a corner from Antoine Griezmann in the 83rd minute.
His Real Madrid teammate Karim Benzema had an opportunity to double the lead from the spot three minutes later but fired his penalty over the bar.
France coach Didier Deschamps made eight changes to the side that drew 1-1 with Albania last week, while an uninspired Sweden side played without striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was rested.
Russia ground out a 2-1 win over Hungary, a welcome result for the visitors’ under-pressure coach Fabio Capello.
Center-back Sergei Ignashevich gave Russia a 49th minute lead, heading in a corner from Alexander Samedov after the Hungary defenders failed to pick up his movement. Alexander Kerzhakov slotted in Russia’s second in the 80th minute off a through ball from Alan Dzagoev.
Capello has come in for widespread criticism in the Russian media in the wake of the team’s poor form, with one win in their last eight competitive matches.
Two second-half goals from Robbie Brady guided Republic of Ireland to a 4-1 victory over the United States in Dublin.
Ireland opened the scoring when Anthony Pilkington chipped U.S. keeper Bill Hamid in the seventh minute. The Americans equalised in the 39th minute when Chris Wondoloski’s cushioned header fell to Mix Diskerud, who flicked the ball low into the corner of the net.
In the 55th minute, Brady shot low through Hamid’s legs to restore Ireland’s lead. James McClean scored in the 82nd minute when his long-range shot deflected off David Cameron past a helpless Hamid. Four minutes later, Brady’s 25-yard free kick curled into the top left corner.
The defeat left Jurgen Klinsmann’s team winless in its last four games since reaching the second round of the World Cup.
Switzerland scored early and late to draw 2-2 at Poland in an entertaining friendly.
Josip Drmic put the Swiss ahead in the 3rd minute, running on to a pass from Xherdan Shaqiri. Poland levelled in first-half stoppage time from defender Artur Jedrzejczyk’s header.
The hosts led in the 61st minute when Arkadiusz Milik curled a left-footed free kick from the edge of the penalty area. Substitute Fabian Frei scored his first international goal in the 87th minute, six minutes after Poland defender Michal Zyro was sent off for a second booking.
Drmic was denied in the 41st minute when his shot was blocked in a goal-mouth scramble as Switzerland had four shots in quick succession. The danger was cleared only by Polish goalkeeper Artur Boruc’s stunning save from Pajtim Kasami’s shot.
Japan sounded a warning ahead of their defence of the Asian Cup with a 2-1 win over Australia.
Javier Aguirre’s team, brimming with confidence after a 6-0 thrashing of Honduras last Friday, defend the trophy in Australia in January.
Second-half goals from substitute Yasuyuki Konno and Shinji Okazaki earned Japan their victory, with Tim Cahill’s last-minute header a scant consolation for the visitors.
Belarus ended Mexico’s five-game unbeaten run, winning 3-2 at the Borisov Arena.
The first half had finished goalless before a rush of four goals in eight minutes shortly after the break. Raul Jimenez twice put Mexico in front but Belarus responded swiftly on both occasions. Sergei Kislyak scored on the rebound after a penalty before debutant Nikolai Signevich headed in Belarus’ second equalizer.
Mexico struggled in sub-zero conditions and went down to an 81st-minute goal from Pavel Nyakhaychyk.
Uruguay were without Luis Suarez but still beat Chile 2-1.
Alexis Sanchez opened the scoring for Chile, but Diego Rolan equalised just before the break. Alvaro Gonzalez netted the winner in the 80th minute.
Bolivia rallied to defeat Venezuela 3-2 on goals from Ronald Raldes, Damian Lizio and Juan Carlos Arce.
For Venezuela, Wilker Angel opened the scoring and Alexander Gonzalez levelled the score at 2 before Arce’s winner in the 87th minute.
Slovakia continued their good week with a 2-1 defeat of Finland.
Jan Kozak’s side saw off Macedonia 2-0 on Saturday and followed that up with another victory thanks to first-half goals from Filip Holosko and Marek Hamsik.
A Tomas Hubocan own goal just before the break brought Finland back into the match, but they were unable to force an equaliser in the second half.
Greece’s problems showed no sign of coming to an end as they lost 2-0 at home to Serbia in their first match following the sacking of coach Claudio Ranieri. The Italian was sacked on Saturday following the stunning home defeat to Faroe Islands which left the Greeks with a mountain to climb to reach Euro 2016.
Radosav Petrovic gave Serbia the lead on the hour before Nemanja Gudelj made sure of the victory in the 90th minute. Greece have now failed to score in the last five home games, versus South Korea, Romania, Northern Ireland, Faroe Islands and Serbia.
Colombia beat Slovenia 1-0 thanks to a goal just before half-time from Adrian Ramos.
Two goals in five minutes shortly after half-time from Claudiu Keseru gave Romania a 2-0 win at home to Denmark.
Thailand inflicted further misery on New Zealand with a 2-0 victory in Nakhon Ratchasima.
Goals from Kirati Keawsombat and Adisak Kraisorn secured Kiatisuk Senamuang’s side the victory and extended their opponents’ winless run to nine matches.
Despite beating Thailand 3-0 last time out, China were unable to keep their momentum going after recording a 0-0 draw against Honduras.
Sardar Azmoun’s first international goal, meanwhile, was enough to help Iran claim a 1-0 win over South Korea.
The two sides will meet in January’s Asian Cup, and it was Azmoun who settled Tuesday’s game with a strike eight minutes from time.
Ukraine were held to a goalless draw at home by Lithuania, ending a run of three straight wins, while Canada and Panama also played out a scoreless draw in Panama City.
Over in South America, Carlos Ascues helped himself to a brace in Peru’s 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Paraguay.
In an intense match, both teams finished the game short of their full complement with Peru’s Yordy Reyna and Paraguay’s Derlis Gonzalez and Paolo Guerrero all earning red cards.